5-year-old boy brought loaded revolver to kindergarten

by Jay Dillon

It could have ended in tragedy. A five-year-old boy packs up a loaded handgun in his bookbag, then heads off to school. If it wasn't for a classmate, who knows what could have happened.The boy packed up the loaded .22 from a bed in his family's apartment in a city northwest of Pittsburgh, PA. He took the gun with him to class and it was a fellow kindergartner who found the gun and alerted his teachers.Nicole Lutle says she's the godmother of the kindergartner who brought a loaded gun to the alquippa elementary school."For them to say he's aggressive, that's a lie," Lutle says. "It's not that this child was bad, it's not that this child had a temper because all of that is a lie."Family friends say that the 5-year-old boy found the loaded 22-caliber gun Sunday night. They say he had a good reason for picking it up."He picked it up because he didn't want his little brother to get to it," a family friend, who did not want to be identified, said. "He knew his little brother wouldn't go through his book bag, so he put it in his book bag and forgot it was in there."The boy's younger brother is three years old. Family friends say the five-year-old knew his brother would find the gun and figured it was safer in his backpack."He is a very sweet kid, he wasn't taking the gun to school to hurt no one," the family said.When school officials realized the boy had a gun in his backpack they suspended him and sent a school-wide note home to parents. Lutle doesn't condone what happened but says this kindergartner and his siblings need help."We have to show these kids more love because if we don't show them, what do they think they have?" Lutle said.According to WBXI, the city's police chief said they are sure the student meant no harm.Children and youth services is now involved in the case.And police say they will reinterview the mother before deciding whether or not to file charges.